Traces of Trade and Temples: The Nabateans in the Bay of Naples

Dive & Dig

Professor Lucy Blue is captivated by the Nabataeans – the ancient Arab traders best known for their rock-cut capital of Petra. Here she speaks to Michele Stefanile from the University of Naples Federico II about two recently located submerged Nebataean temples in the Bay of Naples. Prodigious traders, the Nebataeans traded in luxury goods from the Arabian Peninsula such as frankincense and shipped grain and bitumen from Egypt via Alexandria to Rome through the ancient harbour of Puteoli (now known as Pozzuoli). Hear how these discoveries reveal the role of the Nabataeans at this Republican period port and why these wealthy merchants built temples with Italian marble clad altars inscribed with Latin dedications to their Gods.